Travel to Japan stays high throughout the off-peak fall months

Temperatures are cooling in Japan, but interest in visiting shows no sign of waning as fall arrivals proceed to exceed pre-pandemic levels.

The country welcomed 2.93 million foreign visitors in August, followed by one other 2.87 million visitors in September – significantly higher than the two.52 million and a pair of.27 million who arrived in the identical months of 2019, in keeping with Japan National Tourism Organization.

Historically, Japan experiences a lull in tourists in August and September, followed by a surge in visitors in October from travelers searching for fall foliage or Tokyo's famous Halloween celebrations.

This 12 months, nonetheless, that decline is anticipated to be muted because the country sees a long-expected surge in Chinese traveler arrivals, a trend that began in June. According to Japanese authorities, China was Japan's largest tourism source market before the pandemic, accounting for 30% of all arrivals.

According to Japanese tourism statistics, Chinese visitors to Japan doubled last month, from 325,645 in September 2023 to 652,300 in September 2024.

From January to September this 12 months, greater than 5.2 million visitors from China visited Japan, a rise of 228% in comparison with 2023, in keeping with preliminary statistics. But that also leaves loads of room for growth to succeed in 9.6 million in 2019.

While Chinese arrivals are increasing, visitors to Japan from other countries have fully recovered and are even exceeding pre-pandemic levels.

Although two-thirds of tourists come from East Asia – namely South Korea, China, Taiwan and Hong Kong – the greater growth in the primary half of this 12 months got here from travelers from North America and other parts of the Asia-Pacific region by the Mastercard Economics Institute, in keeping with a report published in September.

The variety of travelers from the US increased 153% in the primary half of 2024 in comparison with the identical period in 2019.

Visitors from Canada (148%), Australia (141%), Singapore (140%) and New Zealand (138%) also exceeded pre-pandemic levels, in keeping with the report, as did arrivals from India and Southeast Asian countries including the Philippines, Vietnam , Indonesia and Malaysia.

Those from North America and Europe who travel longer distances are inclined to stay longer, the report said. About 40% of Europeans are staying between two and three weeks, it said.

In contrast, 75% of South Korean visitors – currently Japan's top tourism source market – stay lower than per week.

As a result, travelers from North America and Europe are spending more on accommodation and food, while Asian tourists are spending more on shopping, the report said.

However, favorable exchange rates brought on by the weak yen have led many to spend more on retail purchases, a trend particularly noticeable amongst visitors from Singapore, the United States and Europe, in keeping with Mastercard's report.

According to Mastercard's report, overcrowding is most severe in 4 locations: Kyoto, Tokyo, Osaka and Okinawa.

“In April 2024, Kyoto had the highest proportion of foreign guests at 68%, compared to 36% in Tokyo,” the report said. “Outside these major cities, the proportion of foreign guests is typically less than 10%. This represents a significant increase from 2019, when Kyoto and Tokyo had an average share of foreign guests of 38% and 17%, respectively.”

Notably, Japan features prominently on many 2025 trend lists, similar to Expedia's “Unpack '25: The trends in Travel” to Lonely Planet's 2025″Best at traveling.“

Tokyo and Osaka are among the many 10 global cities featured on Airbnb's list of hottest winter destinations, in keeping with a report from the corporate published on October 16.

Hilton's 2025 Trends Report also shows strong interest in Japan, noting that of the highest eight luxury hotels where Hilton Honors members redeemed probably the most points in the primary half of 2024, three are in Japan – Conrad Tokyo, Conrad Osaka and Roku Kyoto.